It started with Blondie, and ended up as a Zoo with a crew!

Tag Archives: marriage

Valentine’s Day really isn’t my favorite holiday, but I’ve said that before. It just never lives up to those movie-made expectations. I’m always left feeling sort-of bah-humbug. But this year I didn’t have a bad Valentine’s Day…

I didn’t sit around and write 65 cards for my kids to pass out. I sort of hate that tradition because I know where those cards end up. I also didn’t spend 19 hours perfecting the most amazing Pinterest cupcakes ever. Because I also know exactly where those cupcakes wind up. Instead the ZooCrew requested “Fruit Rollup Valentine’s”… AHHHH! The best of both worlds! A cool valentine + a snack for the party rolled into one! I’m loving the Type B personality that has taken over my life. Simple AND impressive: that’s how I roll! (OK, that’s how I’m learning to roll. Better?)

As parents, it’s easy to see where our children need love. They need love when they’ve had a bad day at school. They need love when they missed the ball at practice. They need love when their brother tore the head off their favorite baby doll. And they need love when the dog won’t play with them after they spilled their noodles on the floor and when they lied about finishing their homework. The job of a parent might include the roles of chef, chauffeur, nurse, counselor, teacher, preacher, laundry-doer, and referee; but no matter which role you’re taking on, being a parent always involves dishing out love.

As moms and dads, we’re consumed with the needs of our children. We want to build their self-esteem and their character. We want to foster creativity and inspire faith. We try to teach them to play fair and share. We spend every waking moment creating this list of things to do just make sure we’re hitting the mark. But there is one thing we sometimes forget, and it’s really simple. We’re people too!

Just because we’re parents doesn’t mean we don’t have our own inexplicable bouts of grumpiness. Being moms doesn’t make us exempt from overwhelming loneliness or feelings of failure. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to stop ourselves in the middle of our own destructive patterns and just let love in.

Ok, before I say anything else, let’s start with where the heck have I been? According to Facebook and it’s built-in guilt-trip providing insights, my followers are wondering why I haven’t been posting! The answer is far too simple I’m afraid. It’s summertime.

I have to admit this has been one of the better summers I’ve had in a while. No, we didn’t get to go on vacation. We haven’t seen anything fabulous or fantastic or amazing. We’ve seen a few cousins, hit a few family gatherings, but mostly, we’ve tried to find as many swimming holes that meet our criteria, which happens to be within an hour drive, free, and fun. So far I think we have about 5 different ones we’ve frequented.

I wish I could tell you it’s been all water holes and jars full of lightening bugs and capturing memories with my Rebel Read the rest of this entry →

If you know my husband, this story is much funnier. If you don’t know him, let me just help you out. He’s 42, but he’s not a day over 17 most of the time. He’s probably the reason some guy invented Adderall (even though he’d never take it) and he may have been the creator of the PHOTO BOMB. When he’s mad he tries to yell, but his booming voice isn’t enough to scare anyone and when he’s worried or thinking he rubs the bald spot on his head. Read the rest of this entry →

Things are pretty tough in the Zoo right now. I’m having to spend big chunks of time separated from my husband and manage the bulk of the household on my own. Meanwhile, he is scrambling to cover the financial side of this partnership, and he’s under a huge amount of strain. There’s nothing like sleeping all alone to give you hours upon hours of reflection.

The other night I was flipping through the channels. When I can’t sleep I like to find an old movie, one I know by heart, and turn it on. I can close my eyes, listen to the dialogue, and picture the movie in my mind. This helps me turn off the constant questioning that buzzes on in my brain. “Do I have enough in the bank to cover the cell phone bill? When is the last day to pay the cable? Are we out of fruit snacks? Did Trenton show me his reading log? Did Jayden find his shoes? Did we feed the turtles today? How hard could it be to tape and float sheetrock?”….. It goes on and on, so if I can find a movie, one I already know, I can usually go to sleep. Read the rest of this entry →

As luck would have it, Springbreak was pretty dreary. It rained nearly every day. But I found myself memorized by the tree in my backyard. From my bedroom window I watched the birds playing on it’s bare branches. You know those little geeky guys with the binoculars and the long lenses staring up into the trees? Well, suddenly I could see why they spend their days staring up into those branches!

We have at least 50 birds hanging out in our backyard tree. There are blue jays and cardinals and doves. I love how the red cardinal looks so in large and in charge! Read the rest of this entry →

I’m a firm believer that marriage is full of ups and downs and I also think anyone who pretends to be hunky dory happy all the time is most likely full of it, but I’ve gotta say, my husband has been my hero lately. I think it may have started the day he found the bicycle. I was pretty upset when my son’s bike was stolen. It’s not the first time something disappeared from our house, but usually you know who stole from you. Read the rest of this entry →

Last night my husband had the foresight to ask Blondie and her Beau if they would do a little babysitting so he could take me out for a Valentine’s date, a day early. I don’t know why, I got those teenager bubbles in my stomach. I had a new red dress hanging in the closet, so Blondie and I made a voyage to buy new shoes, a few accessories, and for the first time all week, I broke out the good mascara. I even bought him a Hallmark! Read the rest of this entry →

So I’m ten days late with the whole resolutions thing, but here we go. This year I’m going to become skinny and rich. Oh wait, I’ve tried that one for the past twenty years. Maybe I should go for something a little more attainable. How bout this year, I’m going to write 250 blogs!

I think I have a lot of unused material floating around. For example, last week I overheard my 7 year old son Jordan talking to his 6 year old sister. He said “KK you need to take a bath. It looks like you’re developing a problem.”

“I don’t have a problem! She pouted with carefully pronounced objections. He replied “You look like one of those ladies that grows a beard.” Read the rest of this entry →

You know, there are tons of jokes based on ethnic, gender, size, color, or any other stereotype you can throw out there, and maybe it’s not fair to assume that anyone six feet tall can shoot hoops, but there’s a reason Blonde’s have a bad rap. That reason is my daughter. No kidding.

When she was 15, I told her a Blonde joke. One day, a blonde was driving down the highway when all of a sudden she was pulled over for speeding. The officer, a fellow blondie, walked up to the car and said “I need to see your driver’s license.” The driver rifled through her purse, looking at various items, and the officer finally said “it’s the rectangle, the one with your picture on it!”

The Blonde quickly handed the officer her compact mirror and said “Oh, here it is!”

The officer took the mirror, looked at it and replied “I didn’t realize you were a police officer too!”

My Blondie is still trying to figure that one out. Meanwhile, she is fueling enough one-liners to start her own Blonde Joke website. The other day we were driving in her car. It was my husband, me, Blondie, and her fiance. We were talking about babies and magic moments and her daddy said “I still remember the moment you were born. I counted every one of your fingers and toes.”

“Why?!” Blondie asked, puzzled…

“To make sure you had all ten of them” Daddy replied.

She paused for a moment, her eyebrows narrowed in confusion, and then she asked, “WELL, DID I??”

We all just looked over at her hands on the steering wheel, and then we wondered, WHY is she the one driving??